Moments in NUC: Towards an end...

Nilai town is one of the highest class town in Malaysia although it is not as big and developed as KL. I said that because it is similar to Singapore, a 'fine' country.... haha... no, Nilai is not a 'fine' town but a clean and beautiful town that similar to Singapore. 

I was first amazed by Nilai scenery when I first came here in 2004 (if I’m not mistaken). That time, Bandar Baru Nilai was just newly launched, so, there were very few cars and people around there. Even so, the roads were built widely, unlike here in Kajang, the roads are so ‘wide’…

Last year when I came back to Nilai to further my study in Nilai University College (NUC), I found that Nilai has almost totally changed! I can hardly recognize the roads anymore (of coz la, I was 12 when I first saw Nilai). That time I still remember there was no Nilai University College but Nilai International College and it was my dad who suggested me to further my degree here because it’s affordable and nice environment. Furthermore, I always wanted to own a UK cert at that time. And that’s why I came to Nilai UC until today. I would prefer INTI because it gave me a ‘college environment’ when I first stepped into INTI last year. However, Nilai UC gave me a ‘hospital environment’ due to the landscape and building structures. 

I had difficulties during my first semester in college because it was totally different from those schooling time. Most important was that I was staying in hostel, with my classmate, which I though was a good one, but it was the other way round. I found that not just him, but most Nilai students weren’t serious in studies. Unlike my classmates during my high schools, they were so great and I wasn’t a competitor to them. ‘Never mind’, I told myself, they don’t want to study, fine, not my problem. However when doing group assignment, I was very upset. They doesn’t want to cooperate, everything depends on me. Besides, I think I mentioned before about my English lecturer matter, right? These contribute to my ‘passion’ to leave Nilai UC. 

During my first, second and currently third semester, I keep asking myself where to study in degree if I were to leave Nilai UC. I did a lot of research on many universities and also asked opinions on the students there. So, I can conclude that, most people would suggest me to study in Sunway instead of UCSI. I told myself that I had to decide by myself. Few weeks ago, when I had a friend who wanted to apply for a recommendation letter from the head of foundation to apply for newspaper scholarship, I then joined her to apply together, but not the same newspaper company. And guess what, yesterday, I received their call to attend the interview session on next Monday in UCSI North Wing. I never expect to be short-listed as I have not finished my foundation yet. I applied UCSI because they accept Nilai foundation, unlike Sunway and Taylors. 

When I received the call, I was both happy and sad. Happy is that I can have the chance to study for free. Sad is that I will leave Nilai UC even though I dislike it a lot. After 1 year in the college of course I’ve some good friends (but no best friend) here and I’ll miss them. 1 of them actually had left Nilai UC.

 Just to show a few

Moreover, if I get the scholarship for UCSI, I won't have the chance to apply for the music scholarship in Sunway University (if I managed to enter after completion of my foundation, who knows?). But it's better to get free education than paying by borrowing loan to study in Sunway due to the high cost of living and also the fees. 

I hope those who are currently complaining about Nilai UC but decided to continue there should 'forgive' Nilai UC in order to enjoy your once in a life time studying in college, as people always say college life is the best life in a person's life. So, be happy always........

I'm disappointed too because none of my friends who at first decided to leave but now decided to stay in NIlai UC. Guys, you all should remember the meaning of opportunity cost. That's what made me to give up the UK cert that Nilai offers. Since today is the second last day of class in my third semester, I hope everyone good luck in their coming exams, hope you guys have made a wise decision and remember to be happy always :) I apologize if I had ever made you guys unhappy or being insulted because I like to joke around, so please don't take my words seriously. 

Good bye, Nilai University College....

Dilemma over universities of my choice

It was long since I wrote my last blog post as college life was very busy, especially the final semester. It is now almost the mid of April year 2011, and also the second last week of my third semester, which is also my last semester for my foundation in Nilai University College (NUC). Of course after next week, the week after next I’ll begin my final exam. This semester is proved to be a very tough one, especially for my two English subjects. Beginning of my foundation year, I was thinking why should I study so many English subjects? Even my sister told me that NUC foundation is not very good because of the number of English subjects, which is 4. Because of this, I would suggest that NUC foundation should rename as Foundation in English. Just kidding. Now I realize that the English courses in NUC are not those ordinary English I learned during my high school. Some even say that the English courses here are much harder than STPM MUET. This is because the English courses are based on IELTS (International English Language Test ….), not sure what is the S stands for. Even so, we didn’t fully follow the standard of IELTS because it will be too hard for us. So at the end of my foundation, I will not get the IELTS cert.

My foundation year was a very different pre-u experience that anyone of my high school friends would have went through. Only one of my classmates from Form 5 came to study in NUC, but taking diploma in aircraft engineering. I was wondering why no one had come to NUC when NUC is one of the cheapest college to offer UK cert? Many of my friends went to INTI Subang taking ADP program to transfer to the US to further their studies. Others went to UTAR, Nottingham, UCSI, Sunway and mostly went for form 6. Now I know why they didn’t choose NUC and I’m sure my friends who are studying in NUC would agree with me that studying in NUC is a very terrible mistake we did.

I think I did mention what I’ve had experienced in my first semester about my English lecturer which I had changed two lecturers in just a few weeks’ time. This gave me a very terrible first impression for me as a first semester student in a college. Besides, most of my classmates here, I would say, are very lazy and always aim to get a pass in their subjects only. I’m very sorry to say it but it’s the truth. It was very to notice it by looking at the number of students getting scholarship, especially for students studying foundation in business. Frankly, I am the only male student to get scholarship in my class. Swt… I felt very unfair for me because whenever I had to do group assignments; most of the time my group mates wouldn’t put in their best efforts in doing it, as mentioned just now that they would only like to pass their subjects. But I’m different. I have to get good grades to maintain my CGPA for my scholarship. Unlike my classmates in my high schools, I always had difficulties to challenge them and I always admire their results. Thus, when I came to NUC, my environment changed. People admire my results but I told them that in my high school, I was one of the poorest results students in my class. So, I told myself that I would definitely change to another university for me degree. I did think of changing to another college during my first semester but because I had paid so much to study, I wouldn’t want to waste it.

Since then, I was thinking of studying UCSI as it is nearer and cheaper than studying NUC. However, UCSI doesn’t offer UK cert like NUC did. I didn’t care less about it anymore about the cert because if a UK cert is really so important, why would people prefer UTAR or UCSI than NUC? This time, before deciding to go to UCSI, I would do my own ‘homework’. I asked opinions from my friends who are currently studying there and they didn’t complain much about there. However, when I asked my colleagues, who are studying final semester in degree in music, they told me UCSI is a very terrible choice to study, they even warned me that I’ll regret there, not because of lecturer problems as I am facing now, but because of the fees calculation there. But that’s for the music department. As for business department, they weren’t sure about it but they heard no complains about it so far. So I might give it a try although they advised me to study in Sunway University.

Talking about Sunway University, which is now another choice for me to continue my degree, I think that is the best choice for students choosing to study accounting and finance because they are the only university in Malaysia that offers ICAEW, a professional accounting body in UK. And because of this and also its landmark, the money is now a concern to me. Of course Sunway would be a better choice for me to study accounting compared to UCSI, but the fees and also the place doesn’t encourage me to study there. It was full of traffic jams all along the way to PJ. Besides, the cost of living would burn my pocket even if I got scholarship to study there. I was thinking of studying here because of the Lancaster University cert and also the quality of education but the problem is, they can’t guarantee that my foundation from NUC can be accepted in Sunway. So, I can’t apply to study there when I were to fill in the scholarship form from The Star recently. But they let me to try for the audition for the music scholarship to study there if my foundation is accepted there. This music scholarship doesn’t mean that I’ll study music (Sunway doesn’t offer music) but it’s for students who can play music to apply, like me. So, even I don’t get the scholarship from The Star to study in UCSI, I still can try the audition, just give it a try.

As taught by my economics lecturer since my first semester in NUC, in life there will always be an opportunity cost in choosing something. So, I’m facing it now. Whether to study in NUC, UCSI or Sunway? Let me make it clearly:

 

1. NUC

a. Dislike

- students doesn’t cooperate

- lacks of lecturer (too many part-timers, making the classes end at 7pm)

- doesn’t have internship

- most classrooms are too small to fit about 100 students.

- hate the flipping board on chairs that acts as ‘table’.

- staffs aren’t polite

- dirty toilets

- less chinese

b. Like

- campus life

- big canteen

- big library

- affordable hostels

2. UCSI

a. dislike

- no UK cert

- canteens too small and expensive

- no campus life

- high cost of living

- hostel too expensive

- small library

b. like

- design of the interior (classrooms, library…)

- many chinese

- clean toilets

- located around shops and houses

- near my house

- affordable tuition fees

- has internship

3. Sunway

a. dislike

- location (PJ)

- extreme high cost of living

- heard rumors that students love show off

- no campus life

b. like

- UK cert

- huge library

- nice toilet

- many chinese

- has internship

- recognition (most important!)

Anyway, my last resort would be to continue in UCSI if I couldn’t study in Sunway, I would never consider to continue my degree in NUC after what I’ve experienced there. But would I be happy to study in Sunway or UCSI for my next 3 years?

To be continue…